Nicknamed the "Mistake by the Lake," Cleveland was once famous for its toxic waste of a river known as the Cayuhoga, now under remediation but which caught fire 13 times between 1868 and 1969. Today, Cleveland's better known as home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and for having an economic strategy based roughly on Lebron James. But last Thursday night (and again next July for the convention), all eyes were on the city for something that doesn't shine very often in Cleveland: Republican Party politics. More specifically, it was the first and grandest of 11 debates to help determine the Republican nominee for President. And a guy named Trump.
Actually, I thought The Donald did fairly well during the debate in appealing to his base and disagree with the media narrative that he bombed. Afterward though, he continued his attacks on women, calling moderator Megyn Kelly a "bimbo" among other things. Previous comments haven't affected his poll numbers, but we'll see how fleet of foot his supporters are in the coming days.
Looking at times bewildered standing next to Trump, Jeb Bush is clearly a more cerebral version of his brother, yet he couldn't seem to connect his brain to his mouth in a fluent manner. He may be rusty at high-stakes debating after a few years away from public office, but he performed similarly in a low-stakes forum in New Hampshire just three days prior, painfully tripping over his words to tell a joke about his father. Jeb wasn't bad, but he didn't perform like the nearly even-money favorite that sportsbooks peg him to be.